Thousands of Lebanese workers to strike over latest govt. spending cuts

Thousands of Lebanese workers to strike over latest govt. spending cuts

Author: Wed, 2020-12-09 21:30

BEIRUT: Thousands of public and private-sector workers in Lebanon are expected to down tools next week in a national strike over crippling government spending cuts.

Members of the country's General Labor Union, which includes 43 unions and federations, will join a walkout on Wednesday in protest at the latest austerity measures.

Union leader, Bechara Al-Asmar, told Arab News: "This national strike is the beginning of the broadest moves the country will witness against the removal of state subsidies for basic materials.

"We are shouting in everyone's face. We cannot stand by. If they (the country's political leaders) form a government, there is no need to strike, but what is happening is further deterioration.

"The poverty rate in Lebanon, according to international statistics, has reached 75 percent, and these people receive 1 million (Lebanese) pounds ($660), which is no longer sufficient to pay an electricity bill, while the extreme poverty rate has risen to 40 percent.

"In the tourism sector alone, the total number of people who have lost their jobs has reached 110,000, and if banks implement the Central Bank's circular for merging, 10,000 employees will become unemployed and there will be no job opportunities for them in light of the closure of